The Heat of Battle
by bloodyblond
Summary: They had never imagined it would come to this. A husband and wife on opposites sides meet on the battlefield for one final showdown. Brought together by love, torn apart by allegiance... Only one can come out victorious.


**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**_A/N: Another quickie one shot while you wait for my delayed new chapter of ISDP. My apologies, I got a half a dozen story ideas in my head at the moment and am having a really terrible time trying to juggle them all at once._ **

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Horrified eyes stared down at the sword protruding from her chest.

"You killed me," she whispered, her eyes trailing disbelieving up the dull blade of the sword, past the pale hand wrapped tightly around the grip before finally turning watery betrayed eyes up to meet her attacker. "I loved you," she sobbed brokenly as she slid to the ground, no longer able to support her weight.

With each passing second, she felt the life ebb out of her, blank eyes staring into nothingness as her lover, her husband, her _killer _leaned over her, a smirk dancing on his rosy pink lips. Lips she had kissed just hours ago. Off in the distance there was the faint toll of a bell and she knew it was her death knell.

She closed her eyes and sank into oblivion.

**-oo-**

"Bella... Bella..." a male voice prodded, the owner of said voice nudging her with the toe of their boot.

She slapped it away. "I'm dead, you idiot."

"I'm thinking you take this CARP-ing thing a little too seriously," Jasper said exasperatedly.

"It's _LARP_ you plebeian," she growled, opening one topaz eye to glare up at him.

He rolled his own similarly colored eyes in response. "What_ever_," he drawled out, sounding very much like a valley girl at the moment. When she refused to get up, he began to amuse himself by poking his chest with the fake sword in his hands, smirking as the blade retracted in on itself as if it had run him through.

"She doing the dramatic death thing again?" Peter asked, suddenly coming up beside them – fully decked out in leather and fur – and swinging a foam axe over his shoulder.

"Shakespearean tragedies ain't got nothing on her," Jasper grumbled, looking vaguely discomforted by the sight of Bella still sprawled out on the grass pretending to be dead. They might have been deemed sworn enemies when they were divided onto different sides, but even pretending to hurt his sweet mate wasn't settling well with him.

Peter snorted, unsurprised at the petulant tone in his Maker's voice. He knew that Jasper was the most reluctant of the six of them to come to these things – especially when he'd seen and been a part of _real_ battle – but considering it had been his mate's idea, he was but a slave (happily most days) to her whims.

Every year, between the six of them, someone got to choose an activity for them to do (and they _had_ to do it, no matter how silly or strange - learning to juggle would attest to that). Bella's idea of attending one of these LARP's (after learning about them on the internet) was actually a suggestion she had made when it had been her turn five years ago and even though Peter could admit that he had also found it a little silly the first time as well, they had continued attending them every once in a while. The silliness is what made it entertaining, at least to him, Bella, Char and especially Emmett – who had considered this a video game come to life.

Rose had taken some cajoling as well, but once she'd been put in charge of designing the costumes, she eventually came around and so did Jasper. Sorta. While they didn't complain about coming to them anymore, they still dragged their feet and refused to fully commit to them as much as he, Bella and Emmett did.

"Shut up," Bella groused, getting to her feet and dusting off her own dark mage garb – stretched tantalizingly across her lithe form in a mixture of leather and Lycra – and adjusting the hood that had come off her head during the battle with Jasper. "Where are the others?"

Peter pulled off the heavy helmet he wore – complete with horns (commitment remember) – and ran a hand through his shortly cropped brown hair which, had he been human, would have been plastered to his head with sweat. The sky may have been overcast enough for them to freely walk around without having to worry about their skin, but the atmosphere was thick and muggy.

He felt really bad for the human he had cut down earlier who had been dressed in a full fur suit (looking like a cross between a werewolf and Chewbacca). Peter swore he heard the guy moan, "Thank you," after he had metaphorically cut his head off, flopping to the ground like he was grateful he was finally out of the game.

Considering all the leather he and his family were currently wearing, he imagined they'd be in the same position if things were different. But it was no sweat when you were basically a walking, talking popsicle. Literally.

Sometimes being a vampire was awesome.

"Emmett's probably still arguing with that Orc on the other side of the field about who exactly got who first," he replied. "And last I saw, Char and Rose where talking to some elf about her admittedly awesome costume." He brushed a finger across his ears. "I think I wanna be an elf next time, those ears are pretty rad."

"Might not be so lucky next time," Bella said sadly, looking up at the grey sky overhead. These things usually took place about once a month, but the weather had this annoying habit of never being in their favor. _Stupid sun,_ she cursed silently.

Sometimes being a vampire sucked.

She slid her wand into the leather holster wrapped around her thigh muttering, "Last time I choose to be a mage. Good for nothing wand," and patted the satchel tied around her waist to see that none of her hex bags got crushed in her, _perhaps_, slightly dramatic fall ... not that she'd ever admit to it. She always thought that the over dramatic death scenes were the best part. A few months ago during one of these 'battles', after running her sword through some random knight, he'd fallen to the ground quoting Hamlet. It had been _hysterical_. She had laughed so hard, he ended up breaking character, whining that she had _'ruined the moment'_. If modern technology was allowed on the field, she _so_ would have recorded it.

She remembered the bell she had heard earlier, the one that signaled the game had come to an end.

"Hey, Pete, since we weren't there for the announcement, who won?"

"The Reds of course." Peter smirked proudly, patting the red cloth tied around his waist.

"Yes!" Bella cried, pumping her arm in victory, the movement disturbing the red sash she had tied vertically across her chest. She shot her mate a victorious look, pointedly staring at the cloth tied around his upper arm– in blue instead of red – before her face grew solemn. "At least my death wasn't in vain."

Jasper shrugged, completely unaffected by the loss. He knew if it ever came to a real battle, he'd wipe the floor with every pathetic human on this field. He eyed his beautiful mate. Her on the other hand, he wasn't so sure about. She was such a fierce little thing. "Tell me why I do this again?"

"Because you love me?" Bella suggested, sidling up to his side and blinking her gold eyes up at him innocently.

"No," Jasper countered as he looped an arm around her shoulders. "That's why I _married_ you. Try again." He began steering them towards in the direction that Peter had pointed out the others were at.

Bella tapped her chin in thought. "Because knowing we're looking at eternity, you'll do anything to fill up the long hours?"

"If that were the case, I'd have already been swayed by Rose's constant pestering and taken up knitting."

Peter snorted behind them. "Don't be so sure you won't, Jas. It's Rose's turn to pick an activity this year."

Jasper pulled a face. _Who_ _came up with the rule that they had to do whatever was picked again?_

Bella smirked as she eyed the group celebrating the Red's victory off to the side. "Maybe it's because you enjoy the company?"

Jasper glanced around at the... _eclectic_ group of people they passed as they made their way towards a copse of trees where he could make out Emmett still arguing with a man – who was almost impossibly larger than him – in the distance. He zeroed in on a heavy set man, possibly in his late forties, who was bursting out of the tight spandex costume he wore (his pointed ears signalling that he was an elf – though he looked more like Peter Pan) and grimaced. "No, that's definitely not it."

"Hmmm..." Her gold eyes sparkled wickedly. "Could it be because you like how I look in leather?"

Jasper stopped and pulled Bella around to face him, heated eyes running over the tight leather that encased her curves. Simply seeing her in it and knowing that he'd get to peel it off of her as soon as they got home was always enough to get him to agree to just about anything.

"Yeah," he agreed, "that's _definitely_ why I do this."

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_**A/N: I know absolutely, positively nothing about LARP, so I just kinda threw whatever out there and hoped for the best. Props though to the Supernatural episode: Larp and the Real Girl for the extra dose of inspiration I needed while I was shining this sucker up. Dean getting his nerd on was the most hilarious thing ever!** _


End file.
